Darker Path
by Thessily Thessilonikki
Summary: A Jedi Knight has a secret. In turn, a Senator has one as well. A Padawan's discovery of these secrets lead him down a far darker path than any Jedi should choose.
1. Revealed

**Ass Cover: They belong to Lucasfilm, and the Bearded One. I'm just borrowing them for a spell. That said, I'll warn you that I'm a slashwriter, first and foremost. I just felt I needed to have this lovely trio of stories. I've got Obi-Wan/Anakin, so why not Obi-Wan/Padme? Anyway, this takes place in the Attack of the Clones time frame, but the events are going to be drastically different. Like, no Anakin-and-Padme smoochies, for one. Yeah!**

**Darker Paths**

**Revealed**

**"It's a pleasure to see you again, M'Lady."**

**Padme's heart leapt into her throat. She wanted to rush into his arms, to have him hold her. But no. Instead, she extended her hand to his.**

**"It has been far too long, Master Kenobi," she said, though she didn't mean a word of it. And Obi-Wan knew this too. It had not been so long since last she'd seen him. They spoke briefly, the words show for the other people present, for Obi-Wan's Padawan Learner, who still had a crush on her, though it had been ten years since last she'd seen him.**

**Not so, Obi-Wan.**

**Padme sighed softly as she sat down upon the sofa. She willed everyone to leave, to go away and leave her with Obi-Wan. But she was no Jedi, and even if she were, she was sure things like that were frowned upon in the Order.**

**They spoke at length, Anakin once growing insolent and childish and receiving an almost harsh reprimand from Obi-Wan. Padme kept a smile forced onto her lips as Anakin spoke, wearing his feelings for here out where they could all see them. He was handsome, she could admit, but still a child, and only a child.**

**Finally, they were leaving. Padme cringed inwardly when she realized that Anakin was the one that was going to be staying in her apartment, watching her, while Obi-Wan did security checks. She went to her bedroom, frustrated, and covered the cameras. She couldn't stand him watching her.**

**She sat on the edge of the bed and drifted into thought.**

**~`~**

**They were at the Lake house. Lying on a blanket in the grass, surrounded by the waterfalls. She was on her back, looking up, and he was lying beside her, leaning on his elbow, looking down at her.**

**"And this is okay?" She asked. "You're not doing anything seriously wrong?"**

**"While I am here, Padme," he says, trailing one finger lightly down the side of her face, "I am not a Jedi Knight, as you say that you are not a Senator."**

**"Mm," she said. She felt so warm, so happy with him here so close to her. Like she would never have to return to the Senate and argue with a group of stuffy old men and stuffy old aliens. Like he would not have to return to the Temple and his Padawan and his duties as the model Jedi Knight.**

**Slowly, he leaned down and kissed her, and there was nothing but the feel of his lips upon hers and the sound of the wind through the grass and the waterfalls behind.**

**~`~**

**"Senator?"**

**A female voice drew her out of her thoughts, and she looked up. "I'm sorry." She said, and stood, waiting to be helped out of the dress. Afterwards, she slipped into the bed.**

**~`~**

**She jumped as a hand slid across her waist, where it was covered only in light, silken fabric, raising gooseflesh along her arms. She turned.**

**"You cannot be here," she said, although she did not mean it. Obi-Wan wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him, the heat of his body making her realize how cool it was on the balcony where she had been standing.**

**"And you cannot be outside, love. We cannot watch you here." He said. He wrapped his cloak around her as well and walked her inside.**

**"Where is your Padawan?" she asked.**

**"I do not know," Obi-Wan admitted. "And sometimes I think I'd rather not. He has a talent for running off and mixing with the most horrible sorts of beings. He'll come dragging back to our apartment quite early in the morning. Likely, he's run off because I told him I would watch you tonight and he would sleep."**

**"And will you watch me tonight?" Padme asked, pressing her body to his.**

**"Until you tell me to leave, and probably not even then," he said. He smiled at her.**

**"I wouldn't ever ask you to leave unless I had to," Padme said. She slid from his grasp and his cloak and walked to her bed. Obi-Wan followed, removing his cloak and tossing it across a chair.**

**"And why would you have to?" Obi-Wan asked, unclasping his belt and casting it upon a chair. His tunic followed it shortly.**

**"Because anything but a friendship between you and I must remain unknown." Padme said. He'd said it to her before, and then it had annoyed her. She felt it was the thing to say if she wished to anger him, which was always her intent when it came to their relationship and his insistence that there was not one.**

**"Padme, I do wish it to be like that, but I have rules that I must abide." He said. She stared at his bare chest and did not speak. "Would anyone really approve of a Jedi Knight and a Senator together?"**

**He stood there in the unlit room, the night sky of Coruscant casting strange shadows into the room and bathing it in a wash of multicolored light. Padme waited.**

**"Why would they not?" she said softly.**

**Obi-Wan moved and sat beside her, reaching down to remove his boots. She ran her hand over his back.**

**"I don't know. I suppose the Council would disapprove… because Jedi are not allowed to love." He said. He turned his face and kissed her softly before standing to remove the rest of his clothing. She sat there quietly in her nightgown, as though the Knight were not disrobing in front of her.**

**"Yet you do love me, against their will. You have already broken the rule and cannot unbreak it, so why bother to hide it?" Padme demanded. She was angry that he could be so calm and serene about something that dominated their lives in a way that it should not have. She wanted to be able to be with him.**

**_"You give and give and give. Don't you ever want to take, just a little?"_**

**_"Take what?"_**

**_"Look at them. I see the sparkle in your eyes when you watch my children. I know how much you love them."_**

**_"Of course I do!"_**

**_"Wouldn't you like to have children of your own? A family of your own?"_**** (1)**

**The conversation with her sister flashed so sharply to her mind that she missed Obi-Wan's reply entirely.**

**"What?" she asked. He walked around the bed and slipped beneath the blankets.**

**"I said that it was something I have long thought about. I do not think they would expel me from the Order, but that is not a chance I wish to take." Obi-Wan said. Padme stood and lifted the gown above her head, and slipped into the bed beside him.**

**"I would oppose the Council if you took action and they decided to remove you from the order," she said.**

**Obi-Wan pulled her close to him and looked at her. "When we first took you off of Naboo, you wanted nothing more than to reach a peaceful agreement. Now you want to fight about everything."**

**"Only if there is a need. And I see this as something that I definitely should fight for."**

**"Then we will fight for it, love," Obi-Wan said, and kissed her. Padme felt a feeling of calm rush over her as their lips met, and for the first time since she had landed on Coruscant, she felt safe. No assassin would dare attack her as she lay in the arms of her Jedi lover.**

**~`~**

**Dawn broke over the skyline and shone into the room. It lit Obi-Wan's eyelids and he shut his eyes tighter in effort to block out the light of the star and hold on to sleep, if only for a few more moments.**

**Voices were loud in the apartment outside and he was forced to open his eyes and pay attention to them, whether he wanted to or not. Padme slept on beside him.**

**"My master IS here," Anakin's voice came to him through the closed doors. "I promise you that."**

**Obi-Wan could hear Jar Jar babbling, and Captain Typho speaking as well. He sat up just as the doors slid open.**

**"I'm sure he's—" Anakin's voice broke off abruptly, and his mouth fell open. Then it closed. He took a deep breath. "This is not what it looks like," he said, trying to deny what his sight revealed.**

**"This is exactly what it looks like," Obi-Wan said, annoyed slightly, but he shoved the feeling down and reached for his pants.**

**Anakin shook his head. Obi-Wan could feel his Padawan's anger across their training bond. He knew that Anakin was infatuated with Padme.**

**Obi-Wan was abruptly struck breathless. He felt an emotion from Anakin that was unfamiliar to him. The young man turned and walked out of the apartments.**

**Padme was sitting up behind him, holding the blankets over herself. "This is not what I had in mind," she said.**

**Obi-Wan turned and forced a smile for her. "Well, it's a start," he said, making his voice sound happy, a happiness he did not quite feel. Padme smiled, and Obi-Wan knew it was a real smile. Typho turned from the doorway, pulling Jar Jar away and closing the door.**

**Obi-Wan should have been happy, but he was not. True, his love for Padme and their relationship would never again be a secret, and that thought lifted his heavy heart.**

**But what he had felt when Anakin had left… that was weight enough to crush any happiness he might have at the moment felt. **

**Anakin hated him.**

**~`~**

**(1) : Words in italics taken from Attack of the Clones novel, written by R.A. Salvatore.**


	2. Void

**Ass Cover: They belong to Lucasfilm, and the Bearded One. I'm just borrowing them for a spell. That said, I'll warn you that I'm a slashwriter, first and foremost. I just felt I needed to have this lovely trio of stories. I've got Obi-Wan/Anakin, so why not Obi-Wan/Padme? Anyway, this takes place in the Attack of the Clones time frame, but the events are going to be drastically different. Like, no Anakin-and-Padme smoochies, for one. Yeah!**

**Darker Paths**

**Void**

**A tremor in the Force shook Obi-Wan from sleep. He sat up in bed, blinking, feeling strangely disoriented. That bothered him more than the change in the Force. He felt as though something was missing.**

**Something was wrong.**

**He slid from the bed, leaning over once and kissing Padme's cheek, before pulling on his leggings and under-tunic and stepping onto the barely lit balcony that faced the east. The sun was rising over the lake and he walked over to the railing and leaned against it. The reason for his uneasiness eluded him as he stared at the light creeping over the calm surface of the water. He slid absently into meditation, letting his thoughts drift away and the Force rush into him.**

**Pain coursed through his entire body as the Force flowed in, and he understood the feeling of absence, and the uneasiness in the Force.**

**Obi-Wan Kenobi no longer had a Padawan.**

**When he'd woken, that must have been the moment Anakin had broken their training bond. And for that, Anakin would have had to…**

**Obi-Wan reached into the Force, opened himself and let it take him over, along with the pain the newly severed training bond brought. But eventually, it faded, and nothing was left but a void where his and Anakin's minds had once connected within the Force. But that was not the only thing that was painful.**

**The Dark Side clouded anything that he might have seen. He sat there for a long while, waiting for the shadows to part and the Force to show him what it would. He did not move until he felt a hand on his shoulder.**

**"Obi-Wan?" Padme asked. Her voice was filled with worry.**

**"Something has happened," Obi-Wan told her. "I have to return to Coruscant."**

**"No!" Padme cried, exasperated. "We have just gotten here, and if you intend to leave, I am going with you."**

**"No," Obi-Wan said. "Stay here. This is an affair of the Jedi, and not for you."**

**Padme frowned, her face flushing as she stood and clasped her robes more tightly about her. "I may be your wife but I am not yours to order about!" she cried. "I am still a Senator, and if there is a problem within the Republic then it is my business also!"**

**"I will not argue this with you," Obi-Wan said, turning and going back into their rooms. Padme followed him.**

**"Do not turn and walk away from me," Padme said. "You have your calm Jedi ways for every being I the galaxy, yet when it comes to a disagreement with your wife—you wife" she cried "you will walk away."**

**"You do not understand," Obi-Wan said, his teeth clenched.**

**"No, I cannot understand because you do so much to hide your emotions from me." Padme cried. "And why? Because I am not a Jedi? Something has happened, and you will tell me."**

**Obi-Wan froze. Then he sat on the end of the bed, one boot in his hands. "He has… he…" he did not want to think about it.**

**"He? Who?" Padme sat beside him. "Tell me?"**

**"I do not know exactly what happened," Obi-Wan said. "I woke this morning, feeling as though something was wrong. Something I could feel in the force. I went onto the balcony, to try and get a better grip on what I felt, and…"**

**Padme looked at him expectantly. He began pulling on his boots.**

**"How soon do you think I could get back to Coruscant?" he asked. Padme sighed, annoyed.**

**"What happened. You left something out, and there is no way that you can think I do not know." She said.**

**"Anakin… destroyed our training bond," Obi-Wan told her. "That's why I was… on the ground. It hurt so much, when I opened up to the Force. He's not there. Nothing's there."**

**Padme reached out and hugged him tightly to her for a moment. He sounded so shocked, so stunned, almost scared. "I'm going with you," she told him.**

**"No, I want you to stay here, to stay safe, should anything happen," Obi-Wan told her. "There's only one thing that will make a Jedi sever his training bond like that."**

**"He knows about this place, Obi-Wan. I would be safer with you." Padme said. She realized that they were both speaking as though Anakin would be coming for her.**

**"I cannot take you into the council chamber. It is a place for Jedi, or prospective Jedi." Obi-Wan said. "And I would not leave you away from me inside the Temple, because it will be the first place he goes, I think."**

**"Then dress me as a Jedi and wrap me in a cloak so that they cannot see my face," she said. She was scared now, both by the possibilities that Obi-Wan was leaving unspoken, yet hinting at, and that something could happen to him while he was away. She did not want them to be apart.**

**Obi-Wan sighed. "They will know that you are not a Jedi, but I suppose that we have to do something."**

**She nodded and they dressed her as a Jedi.**

**~`~**

**Obi-Wan strode to the doors of the Council chamber and Forced them open, then walked inside. Half of the council was inside, including Mace Windu, and Yoda. They all turned when Obi-Wan came into the room.**

**"Jedi conduct, this is not!" Master Yoda said, beating his stick on the floor. He eyed Obi-Wan's cloaked companion. "A Padawan you have, Obi-Wan Kenobi."**

**"That is no Padawan, if the Force tells me correctly," Master Windu said. "Nor a Jedi at all."**

**"It is forbidden among the Jedi to bring one that does not have the skill in the Force into the Council chamber," Master Ki-Adi-Mundi said.**

**"I will apologize for my rule breaking later," Obi-Wan said.**

**"Speaking this way, never have I heard you," Yoda said. "Something troubles you deeply, Knight Kenobi. Unbecoming of you, this trouble is."**

**"And whether you are troubled or not does not justify your bringing of this person into the chamber," Master Windu said.**

**Padme tossed back the hood of her cloak and looked directly at Master Yoda. "Can you sense nothing? For all your talk of your abilities in the Force, do you not know what is happening around you?" She was angry.**

**"You have taken to breaking many rules, Obi-Wan. First you marry, then you bring her into the council chamber. What will you do next?" Master Windu was frowning.**

**Obi-Wan looked up, directly into the Jedi Master's eyes. Had Mace not been the head of the council, or had he been a Padawan, he would have recoiled at the pain he saw in Obi-Wan's eyes.**

**"Anakin has destroyed our traning bond," Obi-Wan said softly. The moment he had looked up, all other conversation in the chamber had stopped. Every Jedi in the room heard those words.**

**"You know this for sure?" Master Windu said, his voice softer.**

**"There is a void within me where he once was," Obi-Wan said. "I am positive."**

**"Clouded, his future always was," Master Yoda said. "Listen to us, Qui-Gon would not." He stood and hobbled slowly across the room to Obi-Wan and Padme. "Much like your master, you are."**

**"There must be something you can do!" Padme cried.**

**"If Anakin has turned to the Dark Side, then there is nothing, nothing that we know of." Master Windu said.**

**The door opened and a young Padawan stumbled inside. "There are droids attacking the temple!" she cried.**

**"Where is your master," Master Yoda asked the girl.**

**"She is fighting them, sir! Master, they are not all droids!" the girl said.**

**All the masters rose to their feet. "Then who are they?" Master Windu asked.**

**"I don't know sir," the girl said, looking toward the door. "I don't know. They wear Jedi cloaks, but they're attacking the Jedi, sir."**

**There were cries from outside the Council chamber and the girl rushed out. Obi-Wan watched the Jedi Masters.**

**"Take her from the temple, I will." Master Yoda finally said. He started hobbling toward the doors. "Come with me, you will, Senator Amidala."**

**"I can fight, Master Yoda. If I have a blaster—" Padme began.**

**"Come with me, you will." Yoda repeated. Padme looked at Obi-Wan.**

**"Go," he said. "I do not want to see you hurt."**

**"So you will have me leave, yet you will stay here and YOU will be hurt?" she asked.**

**"I will not be hurt," Obi-Wan said. "Please, just go with Master Yoda."**

**Padme turned angrily and followed Master Yoda as he hobbled from the room. Obi-Wan watched her walking away. He sighed and turned to Master Windu.**

**Padme came running back through the doors and wrapped her arms around her husband. "I love you," she told him. "And I will see you again." She kissed him, and he put one arm around her waist and held her against him.**

**"You will, love, I promise you that," Obi-Wan said.**

**"Senator Amidala!" Master Yoda said.**

**"I love you," she repeated, then turned and followed the aged Jedi Master. Obi-Wan smiled when he heard her correcting Master Yoda. "It's Senator Kenobi, Master, you know that."**

**Master Windu watched the Jedi Knight that stood beside him. "Love is incentive to survive. I'll have to remember that." He said. "But now, we must face your Padawan."**

**"He is no longer my Padawan." Obi-Wan said, and took his lightsabre from his belt. "Both you and I know this, Master. He is no one's Padawan, and beyond saving."**

**"I know how it must hurt you to say that, Obi-Wan." Master Windu said. For the first time, he looked upon the Knight as his equal. "You did all that you could, and I am sorry that you could not fulfill Qui-Gon's wishes."**

**Both Jedi walked from the council room, the remainder of the assembled Jedi at their back.**

**~`~**

**Obi-Wan sliced his lightsabre through droid after droid. They didn't stop coming, as though there was an unlimited supply. Which, he was sure, there was, given that there were so few Jedi and the senate would never dare send the Clone Army of the Republic into the Jedi Temple.**

**Of course, Obi-Wan thought as another droid fell in two melted pieces at his feet, the Jedi had always assumed no one would dare attack the temple.**

**"Hello Master," A voice said behind him, cold, calm, and… different. Obi-Wan turned.**

**"Anakin," he said. Though Anakin was not holding a lightsabre, Obi-Wan did not deactivate his own. He could no longer touch his former Padawan's mind, and therefore couldn't predict anything the boy would do.**

**"Where is she," Anakin asked.**

**"I don't know," Obi-Wan told him. It was the truth, mostly. He had an idea where Master Yoda might have taken his wife, but he did not know for sure. Even if he had known, he was sure he would have lied to Anakin.**

**"You are lying," Anakin said. He did not move.**

**"I do not know where she is," Obi-Wan said. Anakin tried pulling the lightsabre from his former master's hand. Obi-Wan held onto it, but barely.**

**"How can you not know where your lover is?" Anakin asked. "Tell me, and your death will be that much quicker."**

**"I'm not going to die today," Obi-Wan said. "Nor any day soon after. I promised my wife that I would return to her, and I will."**

**Rage was emanating from Anakin in waves. He rushed at Obi-Wan, but the Jedi Knight did not back down. A red lightsabre surged to life in Anakin's hands as he attacked his former Master. Obi-Wan blocked every slash easily, but he was tired. Anakin's blows were falling harder and harder upon him.**

**"Padawan Skywalker," Master Windu said from behind them. Anakin stopped his merciless beating at Obi-Wan to turn to the head of the Council of the Jedi.**

**"I'm not a Padawan anymore, Windu," He said. "I don't answer to you."**

**"You answer to what justice there is left in this temple, Anakin." Master Windu said. Anakin stepped toward him. "Go, Obi-Wan. Follow your heart, you know where she is."**

**Obi-Wan watched the Jedi Master. "I can't," he said.**

**"Go! That's an order, Obi-Wan," Master Windu shouted. He blocked Anakin's slash.**

**Obi-Wan watched them for a few moments more, then turned and fought his way from the temple.**

**~`~**

**Padme stared out across the water. They had returned to Naboo and to the Lake House, the safest place she could think of. Master Yoda was sitting nearby, his eyes closed in meditation. He had told her things, things that he could tell just from being in touch with the Force. Things about herself and her husband and the future, things that she wanted to hear, and some things that she didn't.**

**A tear slipped down her cheek and dropped into the water below. A hand came to rest on her back and she jumped. She turned and looked up at Obi-Wan.**

**His face was dirty, and there was oil on his clothing and his hands. Dirty and sweaty though he was, Padme did not hesitate to throw her arms around Obi-Wan.**

**"I promised you you'd see me again," He said, and he hugged her tightly to him. "And here I am."**

**She kissed him frantically, her lips flying all across his face. "I was so scared, when we were leaving, and people were dying…" She was crying as she spoke, and her words broke off in a sob. He hugged her tightly.**

**"I told him that I wasn't going to die today, because I had to come back to you." Obi-Wan said. "And I meant it."**

**"I love you," Padme told him.**

**"I know," Obi-Wan said, reaching out dirty fingers and wiping away the tears. "and I love you, and that's why I had to come back."**

**Watching them, Master Yoda smiled.**


	3. Family

****

Ass Cover: They belong to Lucasfilm, and the Bearded One. I'm just borrowing them for a spell. That said, I'll warn you that I'm a slashwriter, first and foremost. I just felt I needed to have this lovely trio of stories. I've got Obi-Wan/Anakin, so why not Obi-Wan/Padme? Anyway, this takes place in the Attack of the Clones time frame, but the events are going to be drastically different. Like, no Anakin-and-Padme smoochies, for one. Yeah!

Darker Path

Family

****

The wind swept the flames of the pyre high into the sky. Obi-Wan Kenobi stood silently between Jedi Masters Ki-Adi-Mundi and Yoda as they watched the body of Jedi Master Mace Windu be consumed by the flames. Many of the remaining Jedi—too few, Obi-Wan noted---stood with their hoods lifted around their faces against the chill wind that swept across the bare plot of land. Obi-Wan did not.

Padme Kenobi stood slightly behind the ring of the Jedi. She too wore a Jedi cloak. She would not have, and did not want to, feeling that it was more respectful to the deceased Jedi Master to brave the elements as he was cremated, but Yoda had respectfully asked her to wear something to keep her warm. Obi-Wan had demanded she do so. Beneath the folds of the cloak, she rested her hand against her stomach.

Master Windu had died because of her. He had died so that her husband could escape the Jedi temple and return to her. Tears slipped down her cheeks, and wisps of her brown hair swept around her face. This was because of her and Obi-Wan.

Most of the remaining Jedi were only children. Even Anakin Skywalker, the ruthless former Jedi who had tried to take Obi-Wan's life and had taken Master Windu's, could not take the life of a five-year-old child. No matter how much he hated the Jedi now.

They were so small, yet they understood what was happening. They understood that they could no longer stay in the temple with the way the Sith were so intent. Baby Jedi soon grow into adult Jedi, no matter how few Masters and Knights there were left.

Padme wondered if her own children would have the skill to be Jedi. Wondered if Obi-Wan had passed on his abilities to the child that she carried. Master Yoda could tell her, she was sure, yet she was afraid. Afraid to know, afraid to ask.

The pyre began to burn low. The Jedi finished the ritual, and the few remaining Masters gathered the children around to leave the site. Obi-Wan put his arm around her waist and wiped away the tears that had been falling so silently. His own eyes glistened.

Slowly, the Jedi left the pyre of Jedi Master Mace Windu.

~`~

Padme stared across the water. She did this so much now, as a way to calm herself and conquer her fear. She feared so much now, feared that Anakin would find her, or that someday, Obi-Wan would leave and not return. She knew that she worried to much.

She listened to the sound of her sister's children playing inside the house. She had asked Obi-Wan to bring her family to the Lake-house to make sure that they were protected. The entire place was guarded by Naboo's royal guards. They knew that the focus was no longer on the Queen—Anakin would not attack the Queen. That was not his objective. He was after Padme.

She gasped as the first pain ripped through her body.

"No," She said aloud. Throughout her whole pregnancy, Obi-Wan had had to be in and out of their home, tracking his former Padawan around the galaxy and trying to prevent the worst of his deeds.

She screamed the second time it happened, and her sister came running out of the house.

"Padme!" Sola cried, kneeling next to her sister. "Now?" she asked.

"Yes," Padme whispered. Her heart ached for her husband, for him to be there with her, and safe. Her sister stood, pulling Padme to her feet. "Not now, oh, it can't happen now."

"Sister, you have no choice," Sola said.

"But he's not here. He promised me he'd be here…"

Sola led her sister into the house. Their mother met them at the door.

"He has to be here!" Padme shouted at them.

Sola looked at her mother and shook her head sadly.

~`~

The house was burning. The beautiful Lake-house on Naboo. Smoke choked the rooms, but there were only two people left in the house.

Obi-Wan had handed his baby daughter to Padme and told her to run. Padme had, looking back to see her husband cradling their son in one arm and holding his lightsabre in the other. Padme's family was long gone, and there was no one else to take the boy and run. And Obi-Wan had to stay, had to fight, to deal with Anakin.

Anakin stood before him, a frightening image dressed in black with dark smoke curling about him. With the glowing red lightsabre in his hand. All of Obi-Wan's Jedi training kept him from running.

But then, Obi-Wan realized that his first loyalty was no longer to the Jedi. It was to protect his children, and to protect his wife. He deactivated his lightsabre, turned and ran.

Behind him, Anakin laughed.

~`~

"Go to Alderaan, you must," Master Yoda said wearily. "Take her, you will."

Padme did not argue. Over the last four years, she had argued so much with the Jedi master. But he protected her as best he could, when Obi-Wan could not be there.

"What about Luke?" She asked. Her son was playing with the few remaining Jedi children in the temple. By some strange twist of fate, her son had been blessed—or cursed—with a high midi-chlorian count. Higher even than his own father, and certainly higher than her own.

"Take care of him, I will." Yoda told her. "Leave soon, you must."

"Yes, Master Yoda." Padme said, closing her eyes briefly and steeling herself against the pain that burned inside her heart. "I will take Leia, and I will go."

"For the best, it is." Master Yoda said, blinking sleepy eyelids at her slowly. "Know this, you do."

"For the best," Padme whispered.

~`~

"I don't want to leave you here," Padme said.

"Master Yoda thinks it best that you take Leia away from here. He thinks that it will be safer for you and her both." Obi-Wan said calmly. Over the past years, and repeated battles with his former Padawan as the boy descended further and further into the Dark Side of the Force, he had become ever more the Jedi.

"How can you be so calm?" Padme cried, angry with him. "This war is tearing our family apart and you're allowing it to happen!"

"It's for the best, love. You know this."

"You keep saying that! Yoda tells me that constantly. Taking my daughter away from her father and to another planet is NOT for the best. Leaving you and my son here is NOT for the best!"

"Everything will work out in the end," Obi-Wan said. Padme cried out in frustration.

"You aren't sure! You don't know!" She cried.

"Anakin is the Chosen One," he told her. "He will bring balance to the Force, whether he be good or evil."

"And he is trying to kill you! How can you still have that faith that he is the Chosen One? He is trying to kill you! And your children! And your wife!"

She was screaming. She didn't truly mean to, but she couldn't stand how he could be so calm. How he could go on and not show any emotion at all.

"Padme," he said sighing.

"What," she said, still angry.

"I love you," he said.

She sighed. He was changing the subject. He did that quite often. "I love you." She replied.

"I have faith that the force will guide us. If Yoda tells you that it will be safer, you will be safer." Obi-Wan said. "I have faith in him as well."

"I know," Padme said. "I just do not want to leave you."

"You have no choice, for a time."

"I know," Padme said sadly. Obi-Wan stopped and turned her to face him. He brushed a few stray strands of hair from her forehead.

"I love you," he told her again. Padme smiled. This time, he was not just telling her to change the subject.

"I know," she said, "and I love you as well."

He leaned forward and kissed her.

~`~

Obi-Wan leaned against the walls of the low house, watching Luke play in the sand in the shadows of the building. A drop of sweat trickled down the side of his face, but he did not move.

He disliked the cruel atmosphere of the planet that Yoda had asked him to take his son to. It was warm, and almost too dry. But it was safe, or so Yoda had told him.

Yoda thought it would be safer if Obi-Wan took his son to Anakin's home planet and hid out with Anakin's stepbrother. He could almost imagine that Owen Lars was his own brother—almost. Obi-Wan could barely remember his blood brother—just that his name, too, had been Owen.

Luke stood up from the sand and walked to his father. Chubby hands reached out and clasped at his tunic. He picked the little boy up and gently brushed some of the sand off of him.

"Want mommy," the little boy said. Obi-Wan stared at his son for a moment before standing.

"Then we'll go see mommy," Obi-Wan told him. Luke grinned.

~`~

He had been waiting for them.

The moment Obi-Wan had stepped off the transport, his son holding onto his hand, and headed down the ramp, he was under blaster fire. He had looked up to see clone troopers—storm troopers, they were calling them now, now that they were no longer the Army of the Republic, but the army of the Empire—aiming blasters at himself and his son. He had picked up Luke and ran.

Now he was standing beside Padme, watching the commotion in the streets. The clone troopers were searching for them.

"I had no idea," Bail Organa said from behind them. He was holding Leia. "The whole time I supported Palpatine as Chancellor, I had no idea."

"Neither did any of us," Padme said, turning from the windows to look at the ruler of Alderaan. "I pushed for his election, even after his apprentice had killed Qui-Gon Jinn. None of us knew."

Obi-Wan blocked out the conversation at the mention of his former Master's name. He stared down into the street. A figure in black was striding toward the palace. The figure stopped and stared directly at Obi-Wan.

He imagined he could see every detail of Anakin's face. The lines of rage that marked him, and the anger that clouded his eyes. He could feel him, a darkness surging through the Force. His presence was so strong it made Obi-Wan sick. Leia began to cry.

The window shattered and Obi-Wan almost fell. Padme screamed. She moved toward Obi-Wan, but Bail held her back.

The Force flowed around Obi-Wan, both light and dark, stronger than anything he'd ever experienced. The Dark pulled at him—all of Anakin's concentration here, tugging at him—trying to pull him from the window. At the same time, he held back with a strength that he did not know that he had.

"Daddy?" Luke asked. He was moving forward.

"Stay back," Obi-Wan commanded, but his son did not listen. The Dark Side stopped when the boy came in view of the window. It dissipated and flowed away, and the light was as pure as ever around the Jedi Knight. A cry of anguish reached his ears from the street. Anakin.

As Obi-Wan knelt to embrace his son, he noted that Anakin was again moving forward, toward the palace.

But by the time Anakin entered the palace, he would not find them.


	4. Turn

****

Ass Cover: They belong to Lucasfilm, and the Bearded One. I'm just borrowing them for a spell. That said, I'll warn you that I'm a slashwriter, first and foremost. I just felt I needed to have this lovely trio of stories. I've got Obi-Wan/Anakin, so why not Obi-Wan/Padme? Anyway, this takes place in the Attack of the Clones time frame, but the events are going to be drastically different. Like, no Anakin-and-Padme smoochies, for one. Yeah!

Darker Path

Turn 

"Open yourself to the force, you must."

"Ow!"

At the laughter that met his ears, Luke jerked off his blindfold and clasped his hand over the place where the training droid had struck him. Jedi Master Yoda was watching him, blinking ever so slowly. Luke's sister, who had just completed the same exercise, was the source of the laughter.

"Leia," Padme said softly. The girl turned and looked at her mother, quieting immediately.

"Sorry mother," the girl said.

They were on a transport, bound for the ruined city-planet of Coruscant. The last remaining Jedi and one woman, a senator from a planet long demolished. Seven Jedi—all that remained of the Order.

"Liam, would you volunteer to show Padawan Kenobi how to properly complete the exercise?" Master Yoda asked. Luke blushed furiously.

"Certainly, Master." Liam said, standing and moving to the center of the room, retrieving the blindfold from where Luke had thrown it. He was a few years older than Luke—one of the youngest Jedi initiates at the time of the first battle of the Clone Wars—and had recently received his knighthood. Obi-Wan had been his master.

Obi-Wan himself was leaned back against the wall of the ship, half hidden in shadows where he said beside his wife. His hand rested upon her leg, and his eyes were closed as he listened to the training exercises.

Beside him was his wife, her once long hair cut to a much shorter length, and a scar running down her cheek. Obi-Wan looked at her briefly, and remembered the woman that his master had once pledged himself to. They had both died. Obi-Wan did not want that for himself or the still-beautiful woman that sat beside him.

Across from them were two Jedi Masters, Adi Gallia and Luminara Unduli. He remembered both of their former Padawans. Siri and Bariss. Siri had been his age, a pretty girl, who had gone on missions with him when they were both Padawans, and later on, when Anakin was still in the Order. Luminara's Padawan Bariss had gone on a mission with himself and Anakin once. She had been killed in the Clone war. Obi-Wan regretted his inability to recall when Siri had passed into the Force. Now they were training his children.

Luke was going through the exercise again. This time, Yoda was silent as Luke deflected the training droid's fire. Eventually, he deflected it back and the droid crashed to the ground.

"Well done, Padawan," Yoda said. Luke smiled and moved to sit.

A voice came over the address system, and the pilot informed them that they were landing on Coruscant. Obi-Wan took a deep breath.

They had not set foot on Coruscant since Anakin—now calling himself Darth Vader—had destroyed the Temple and the surrounding buildings.

The Dark Side was thick here, wrapping around everything. Obi-Wan knew instinctively that Anakin was on Coruscant, somewhere.

Maybe in the ruins of the Temple.

"What do we do when we land?" Luke asked, moving to sit next to his sister. Leia looked at Master Yoda, then turned to her father expectantly, lifting the end of her Padawan braid to her lips and chewing on the end. Adi reached out and gently batted the young Padawan's braid from her mouth. Leia frowned at Adi, but brought her hands to rest in her lap.

"We find him," Obi-Wan told her simply. Leia turned to Yoda, who merely nodded.

"And what, exactly, do you intend to do when you find him, Daddy?" Leia asked, turning her dark eyes back to his.

"What I must," Obi-Wan told her. Leia watched him for a moment, not fully understanding. She turned away.

"May the Force be with us all," Luminara said, her blue eyes locking on Obi-Wan's.

~`~

Obi-Wan grabbed Padme's arm and pulled her back.

"Stop," he whispered, his voice barely audible. The sky overhead was cold and gray, and snowflakes fell and settled on the rubble around them. Padme looked at him, the snowflakes settling on the folds of the Jedi cloak she wore. Her face was so pale.

"What?" she whispered.

"I can feel him. He's near. Signal the others, get them here." Obi-Wan said. Padme nodded, sliding her blaster into the holster and lifting her comlink.

Obi-Wan leaned forward and kissed her gently, his lips lingering on hers. She placed her hand over his heart. Then looked up at him, surprised at the warmth she felt there. He slipped his hand into his tunic and withdrew a round stone that rested there against his heart.

"When I turned thirteen, Qui-Gon gave this to me. When Anakin turned thirteen, I gave it to him," Obi-Wan said. "It's Force-sensitive, and reacts when someone uses the Force. Anakin left it… when he left."

Padme nodded. She reached out and took it from his hand and slipped it back into the pocket in his tunic. "I'll bring them to you." She said.

"I love you," Obi-Wan told her. "And when this is over, we're going to… I don't know. Do something. Far, far away from here."

Padme nodded, and he kissed her once more before walking away.

Anakin was waiting for him. Standing in the ruins of the Temple, dark hood thrown back. The wind whipped the cloak around him. Here, where all that remained of once proud and beautiful buildings was rubble and dust, the wind was strong.

The Dark Side was stronger.

Obi-Wan felt the nausea sweep over him as he had when they had met last on Alderaan. Both sides of the Force were strong here. Obi-Wan struggled to keep his focus, and won.

"Are you going to stand and fight?" Anakin asked. "Or are you going to run again, like you always do?"

"Other times were under different circumstances," Obi-Wan stated calmly. He could clearly see his former Padawan's skin reddening in the cold wind. The stone against his heart warmed him.

"How are they any different now? You left a Jedi master to die." Anakin said.

"I was not about to defy a Master, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "Something that I learned when I was a Padawan. Something that you obviously did not."

"And when you ran the second time, what was your reason? Fear?" Anakin asked. "And when you left Alderaan? Bail Organa's dead now, you know that, don't you?"

"I left to save my children. To protect my wife." Obi-Wan said quietly.

"Your wife! The woman that I loved!" Anakin screamed. Obi-Wan could feel the rage rolling off of Anakin in waves.

"It was foolish, and you knew this. She never thought of you as more than a child, Anakin. A child that you still are." Obi-Wan said. He wasn't saying it out of cruelty—he spoke the truth.

"I could have made her see!" Anakin cried. "You never gave me a chance to prove anything! To you, to her, to the Order! Nothing!"

"Sixteen years, Anakin, and still you're raging about like a child. You've never bothered to grow out of it," Obi-Wan said. He hoped that the remaining Jedi would arrive soon.

Anakin activated his lightsabre and charged at Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan brought his own up to meet Anakin's. His arms shook with the strength it took to hold back Anakin's advance. He was too strong for Obi-Wan to fight alone.

In his rage, Anakin could not feel the shift in the Force when Adi approached him from behind. At the last moment, Anakin turned and blocked Adi's attack. She frowned and backed off.

Leia stood at her master's side, watching her father. Obi-Wan kept his eyes on Anakin.

Anakin flipped up into the air and behind Adi. Luminara and Luke came running into the clearing. Anakin spun and attacked the boy. Luke brought his lightsabre up quickly and blocked the attack. Anakin turned his head and saw quickly that he was outnumbered. He turned to run, the only open route.

Yoda hobbled forward. Anakin let out a howl of rage. Now he was trapped. Seven Jedi against one Sith. The odds were not in his favor. He turned and let loose a bolt of Force lightning. Leia screamed as it threw her backward. Obi-Wan advanced, now on the offensive.

The rest of the Jedi stayed back and watched the flurry of blue and red strokes meeting in the chill twilight of the ruined planet.

A bolt of Force-lightning struck Obi-Wan and he was thrown backward. But the bolt did not come from Anakin. A man walked into the ruined space, a dark hood covering most of his face. He threw it back.

"Step back," He commanded Anakin. Anakin obeyed. Emperor Palpatine stared at all of them. He reached out a hand toward Leia and pulled at her. She stood there and looked at him, her violet lightsabre glowing in her hands.

"They're stronger than you," Palpatine said, looking at Obi-Wan. "Quite surprising."

"Strong in his own way, he is." Yoda said. "Resists the Dark Side, he does."

Palpatine turned and angrily flung the tiny Jedi Master backward. Yoda landed on his feet.

"Defeat us, you will not. With us, the Force is." Yoda said, hobbling back toward them.

The mistake was made in seconds. Obi-Wan took his eyes off of Anakin to look at Darth Sidious, and Anakin attacked.

There was the sound of sizzling flesh that everyone standing around could hear. Pain tore through Obi-Wan as the red blade cut through his flesh. He dropped to his knees and fell forward onto the rubble.

Blaster fire roared around them, several bolts striking Anakin. Her cried out in pain and rage and looked up to see Padme, her Jedi cloak sweeping around her, holding the blaster trained on him.

"Padme," he said, happy to see her, though she'd been shooting at him.

"I won't turn," she said, her voice choked as tears streaked down her cheeks.

"Mom," Luke said, starting to take a step toward his mother. Luminara lay a hand on his arm to stop him.

"What is she saying?" Liam asked. Yoda held a hand up for silence.

Anakin took a step toward Padme. She held the blaster trained on him.

"I can kill you and I won't turn. I'm not a Jedi. I can't be dark." Padme said. Her voice was barely coherent. Obi-Wan did not move.

"You would never kill anyone," Anakin said. It wasn't something he said in disbelief, but of pure trust in what Padme was—or had been.

"Yet you killed many," Padme said. Her voice grew stronger with every condemnation she threw at him. "You killed Jedi, you killed senators, you killed innocents and you killed evil. You attacked my family. You killed my sister's youngest daughter. You attacked my family more than once. You've hurt my daughter. Now you've hurt my husband."

Padme fired and the shot struck Anakin in the chest. He stared at her in shock.

"Padme," he said. He fell, his body coming to rest on the rubble beside Obi-Wan. Padme threw the blaster aside and rushed to her husband's side.

"He was a fool," Palpatine said. He had never once taken his eyes from the other Jedi.

Padme let out a wail. Obi-Wan was dying in her arms. Luke broke away from Luminara and attacked the Sith lord. The elder man sent a bolt of lightning arching toward Luke, and stopped him mid-charge. He flew backward and his head struck the rocks, hard. Leia stood and ran at Palpatine. Her lightsabre found it's target and cut into the Sith. He fell at her feet, the light fading from his eyes. She threw her lightsabre away from her with a cry, and it hit the rubble and deactivated. She ran to her parents.

"Recover, she will," Yoda addressed to Liam, and hobbled quickly to where Obi-Wan lay. Adi was already kneeling beside Luke. Luminara checked Palpatine, making sure that he was, indeed, dead, then retrieved Leia's lightsabre. Liam stood, unsure of what he should do.

"Don't leave me," Padme was saying, cradling Obi-Wan's head against her chest. "You promised me," she told him.

"I love you," Obi-Wan said, his voice fading. Leia grabbed his hand. His grip on hers was weak. Both women broke into sobs.

"You said we'd go far away," Padme said. "You can't leave me now!"

Master Yoda stepped up beside him, and then the rest. Luke reached out and took his father's other hand. Liam moved Anakin's body away from them.

"Don't leave me," Padme whispered, rocking Obi-Wan in her arms. "You can't."

Obi-Wan's eyes slid shut.


End file.
